Mass Effect: The Fugue
by KidSpectre
Summary: An amnesic man suddenly shows up in the world of Mass Effect with no recollection of his past nor how he got there. How will he affect the events of the world he is in and how will it effect the world he left behind? Takes place during the events of Mass Effect 1.
1. Chapter 1

**Mass Effect: The Fugue**

 **A/N:** All of the intellectual properties of _Mass Effect_ belong to _Bioware_ and I claim no ownership over them. Only the created characters and the story can I truly claim as my own.

 **Synopsis:** An amnesic man suddenly shows up on Eden Prime, after the Prothean Beacon was destroyed, with no recollection of his past nor how he got there. How will he affect the events of the world he is in and how will it effect the world he left behind? Takes place during the events of Mass Effect 1.

* * *

The very last thing that goes through your mind after the gunshot is the bullet ripping through your head. Darkness is what Lance was. Caught in an infinite cycle of knowing neither up or down. The closer he thought to go in one direction was further from the direction he ought to be going. Even though he was lost and had no idea where to go, the darkness was tranquil. There was no pain or loneliness, just one simple thought, be enveloped in the darkness. A surge of emotion hit like a kidney punch. Lance crumpled into a ball. What's this? Pain, loss, sadness, despair? An overwhelming emotion of fear fell over him. A flash of a distant memory. There it is again. A thunderbolt of a memory flashed again and then again. It was like a thunderstorm was brewing in the darkness.

"Doctor! Commander!" yelled a voice in the distance. It echoed like a voice in a canyon, a sense of direction.

"I think he's waking up," called out the same unfamiliar voice. Lance reached out of the darkness and towards the ever growing light. It pierced sharply at first before softening its glow.

Lance slowly opened his eyes. Head still spinning from the vertigo, Lance stared up at the metal ceiling for a moment, waiting for his equilibrium to return. He slowly sat upright just enough to make out three hazy figures standing in front of him. As if on cue a bucket appeared in his lap. Lance spent several minutes puking into the bucket, until the bile burned his throat and nasal cavities.

"Here sip this," said a female voice with a slight British accent, the tones and inflections told him she was older, most likely the senior doctor or care physician.

Lance took the glass from her hand and carefully put it to his lips sipping water and soothing his throat. He sipped a few more washing out his mouth and spitting it out into the bucket in his lap.

"How are you feeling?" she asked again.

Lance looked up again to see three women dressed in uniforms he did not recognize standing around his bed. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"No," said the one in the middle. She had her brunette almost black hair in a slightly shaggy bob with her bangs framing her face. She stared at him for a moment with her, mostly brown, hazel eyes. Although she was masculine, she was still quite attractive. "Not yet anyway."

"Do you know where you are?" asked the older British doctor. Lance looked over to her, she must have been around her sixties. Even though her skin was smooth, her eyes and hair showed her wisdom and experience.

"This must be some kind of hospital or infirmary," answered Lance.

"Close," replied the doctor. "You are in the medical bay aboard the Normandy."

"The Normandy?" asked Lance to himself. So this is a ship then. Though he had no recollection of being anywhere near a port. Though it would explain all the metal. "I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the ship."

"Can you tell me your name?" asked thempty doctor.

"Sorry doc, I can't remember," lied Lance. If that was even his real name. He wasn't sure and didn't want to risk giving false information.

"I see," answered the Doctor looking down as some kind of high tech tablet mostly made of glass, her fingers seemed to be typing something very quickly. Lance got a chance to look around a bit to see that everything in here looked completely unfamiliar and high tech. Half of the things in the med bay, he did not recognize. His eyes feel upon the third and final person in the room. She wore her black hair pulled back into a tight bun, military style. She appeared more feminine than the others, though wore a look of seriousness that the others lacked.

"Can you tell us what happened?" asked the one in the middle, probably the one called Commander.

"I don't remember much, just a dream. It's kind of fading off now," answered Lance.

"Do you remember anything before that?" asked the Commander.

"No, not really. Just a gunshot maybe," answered Lance.

"Nihlus," spoke up the third one to which the Commander agreed.

"Who or what is Nihlus?" asked Lance.

"Is there anything wrong with him, doc?" asked the Commander ignoring his question.

The doctor thought for a moment. "Professional medical opinion would say there is nothing wrong with him. No physical trauma nor any signs of disabilities. Though there was an unusually high amount of beta waves and signs of rapid eye movement which would say he's just been in a deep sleep. Off the record I'd say he's suffering from amnesia, but we don't have the equipment to run such tests and I am no psychologist. I recommend bed rest and close observation."

"Alright," said the Commander. "I'll notify the Captain. Sit tight and stay here with Doctor Chawkwas, she'll take care of you."

Lance wanted to ask who they all were but his head began to pound, as if it were trying to escape the confines of his skull. The automatic door of the medical bay told him that this was definitely a state of the art ship. Being overcome with pain he began to massage his temples.

"Headache?" asked Dr. Chawkwas.

Lance quickly nodded his head but stopped as it made the pain throb even more. The doctor made her way over to one of the bulkhead compartments and extracted a small container full of white pills. She extracted one of the pills and placed it in his hand.

"Acetaminophen, is all I can offer for now. I could give you something stronger but I don't think your stomach would agree with you."

"Thanks," replied Lance ingesting the pill.

"Just get some rest for now."

"Hey Doctor... um."

"Chawkwas," she corrected.

"How long was I out?"

"Since they brought you aboard the ship, I'd say approximately fifteen hours," said the doctor taking the vomit bucket and glass from him returning to her desk. She pressed a few buttons and a holographic type display powered on. He stared at it in amazement.

"How come I can't remember anything?"

"Well amnesia is a general term for memory loss. It can be caused by a number of things: brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma. I didn't find any traces of brain damage or diseases so I would have to assume it would be the latter."

"Is there anyway to get back my memories?"

"There are more active approaches like therapy and treatments, but the most common form of treatment is time. Most memories will return with time as the brain will try and sort itself out. You should get some rest," replied the doctor noticing the worry on his face. "I am sure everything will be back to normal."

Even though Lance didn't feel like resting, as he had been apparently asleep for fifteen hours, he did as the doctor instructed and lay back down on the bed. He began to run things over in his head. He had a name, but how did he remember his name and not anything else? Was that really his name? And how did he end up on a ship? He was sure he wasn't near any water, wasn't he? This was all so confusing to him. And his brain pounded angrily back. He'd have to figure things out later when his brain was in a more agreeable state.

Lance closed his eyes and feel into a dreamless slumber. It wasn't long before he was awoken by a loud argument. He recognized one voice as Dr. Chawkwas but the other he didn't recognize. It sounded low and rough.

"... he is my patient-."

"With the Prothean Beacon destroyed and Nihlus dead, the Council is expecting answers."

"But he is my charge-."

"And he is on my ship," said the man overriding the doctor. "I need to debrief him."

Sensing it was time to get up Lance sat up causing both to jump slightly. The man standing before him was a large man who looked past his prime but continued to hold an air of power about him. On either side of him stood two men dressed in a type of armor he'd never seen anyone wear before.

"Captain David Anderson, Systems Alliance Navy. How are you feeling son?" asked Capt. Anderson.

"I feel fine, Captain," lied Lance but thought better of it and corrected himself. "Scared shitless sir. I don't know my own name let alone where I came from."

"That's understandable."

"Wait did you say Systems Alliance Navy?" asked Lance. Nothing was making any sense, there was no such thing as a Systems Alliance, wasn't there?

The hiss of the doors slid open as the Commander strode in. "You wanted to see me Captain?"

"I was just going over the debriefing with Mr. Hunter here. I did a background using Hunter's biometrics. Nothing popped up on Alliance or Citadel records so on a hunch I called in a few favors back on Earth. This is the file they came up with," the Captain handed the Commander the tablet in his hand. "Lance Hunter. Worked for the United States Department of Defense, private contractor. Four tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not surprising you can't remember your own history, being as you are almost two hundred years old."

"What do you mean almost 200 years old? What year is it?"

"2183," answered Anderson.

"And this isn't Earth is it?"

"No it isn't."

Lance stared down at his own body, the realization that he was dressed in a hospital gown had left him feeling even more exposed. He desperately wanted his vomit bucket back.

"What happened to me?" he asked eyes going glossy and unfocused.

"During your last tour you were pronounced MIA," said Anderson. "Road side bomb."

"I mean after that? When you found me."

Capt. Anderson looked to the Commander to give the explanation. "My team and I found you on Eden Prime. It is one of the human colonies in the Terminus System. One of my team, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, you've meet her before, got too close to the Prothean beacon. It activated itself and in the process caused the beacon to overload and explode. In the wreckage we found you lying unconscious. Then we carried you here aboard the Normandy."

Lance put a hand on his forehead, his head began to pound again. It was like someone jabbing a fork into his head, trying to force a hard reset of his brain.

"Do you want me to stop?" asked the Commander.

"Keep going," said Lance closing his eyes. "You mentioned something about a 'Nile?' Or something?"

"You mean Nihlus? He was a Turian Citadel Spectre, he was helping to repel a geth attack on the colony. But was gunned down in cold blood. By whom we believe to have been Saren, a Turian Spectre who went rogue."

The whole time the Commander was speaking images flooded his entire mind. "So this beacon or whatever, that's what brought me here?"

"It is a possibility," answered the Commander.

Lance looked up at the ceiling for a bit, the throbbing in his head subsided. "So what happens to me now?"

"You are the only person who ever came in direct contact with that beacon," replied the Commander. "We need to know everything that you know."

"Well I don't know how much help I can be," Lance told them. "I don't remember."

"A Spectre is dead and Prothean Beacon destroyed, along with a Geth attack on a human colony in Citadel Space. People are going to expect some answers," said the Commander coolly. "So you're going to have to do better than 'I don't remember.'"

Lance thought for a moment, trying to bring back what little memories that he could recall. "Just visions maybe, a dream or rather a nightmare. Fear, hopelessness, despair..."

"Nothing else?"

"I can't make out anything, only being trapped in darkness."

"How come you didn't tell us the vision you saw earlier?" asked the Commander curiously.

"Would you have believed me? An unconscious nobody who you brought aboard your ship a few hours ago?" Lance asked her to which she folded her arms across her chest defensively.

"Honestly, no. But this is all we have," she replied.

"I think it is best we leave this out of the report," Captain Anderson told the Commander. "I have a hard time believing it already without this vision. I trust you can take care of our new guest?"

"Yessir," answered the Commander, giving a salute to her superior as he left the med bay with guards in tow. "I don't think we've been properly introduced," said the Commander. "I'm Commander Sarah Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy. Welcome aboard the Normandy."

Lance had been confined to the med bay for the rest of the journey which to be frank, he didn't mind much. Dr. Chakwas was a nice person and she didn't mind at all updating him on the past hundred and fifty or so years of events. He often found himself enraptured by her stories from all of her previous missions. However she always seemed to get misty eyed whenever lost comrades were brought up.

"I always knew I'd look back at the tears and laugh. But I never knew looking back at the laughs would make me cry," said Dr. Chawkwas whipping her eyes dry. Lance found interest in a particular spot of dirt on the ceiling. "Don't mind an old woman and her long gone past."

"Don't worry about it," replied Lance thinking of a way to change the subject. "So how long have you severed with the Commander?"

"This is my first tour of duty with the Commander actually. Originally this was supposed to be a field test for the Normandy. Until things went awry."

"The geth attack."

Dr. Chawkwas nodded. "Although the Captain kept our real mission on a need to know basis, the crew always suspected something. A ship fully staffed, a Council Spectre and a run to Eden Prime. Even assigning Captain Anderson and Commander Shepard, two of the Alliances' most noteworthy soldiers, to CO the Normandy on a simple test run also raised some eyebrows. On record this was just to show that this joint venture with the Turians was actually being taken seriously by the Alliance, but everyone suspected otherwise."

Over the PA system came a voice Lance did not recognize. "On approach to the Citadel, prepare for docking procedures."

"That's our helmsman Lt. Jeff Moreau, but everyone calls him 'Joker,'" Dr. Chawkwas informed him.

"Is there anything I should be doing?" asked Lance who wasn't familiar with docking protocols.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," answered Dr. Chawkwas. "Excuse me, but I need to tend to my other patients."

Lance looked around the med bay, but didn't notice anyone else besides the doctor and himself. He opened his mouth to ask where they were, but closed hims mouth when he saw the frown on her face. He watched her walk into the back storage room of the med bay where he could make out two black lumps on two examination tables. The door slid shut with a hiss leaving him alone in the med bay.

It wasn't a long wait as the ship gave a shudder, which Lance could only assume that the ship had been docked in port. Not long after the doors to the med bay slid open and in walked Sarah. "Where is Dr. Chawkwas?"

"She's in the back room," said Lance motioning towards the back.

"Right," said Sarah, anxiousness was in her voice. "Here put these on, you're going to need more than just hospital scrubs."

Lance did as he was told while Sarah turned around respectfully. In walked a tall man Lance had never seen before. "Commander, Captain Anderson said to meet him in the Ambassador's office," said the man with a throaty voice. His eyes shifted over to Lance. "We haven't officially met, I'm Lt. Kaidan Elenko."

Lance shook his hand and introduced himself before pulling the shirt over his head.

"That's quite a scar you've got," announced Kaidan taking notice of a hideous scar just above his waist.

Lance ran his fingers over the scar, feeling the uneven surface rise and lower beneath his fingers. He cupped it with his hand. He remembered doing this before. Warm blood pouring out between his fingers. Extracting something metal, sharp blinding pain. Another uncomfortable memory to add to the collection. Feeling both the prying eyes of Kaidan and Sarah on him he quickly pulled down his shirt.

"I don't remember how I got it," he added.

"Yeah scuttlebutt says you've got amnesia," said Kaidan dropping the subject but continued to watch him with suspicion. "Anyway we are heading to meet with Ambassador Udina."

Lance continued to straighten out his appearance and tucked in his undershirt. He looked around at the others, noticing their sleeves rolled up.

"Sleeves up?" asked Lance.

"Your choice," replied Sarah.

Lance didn't know why but the saying, "Sleeves down year 'round." Popped into his head. But he continued to roll them up anyway, making sure the folds were neat and clean with the blue facing inward. He pulled the shirt over his head and onto his torso, completing the ensemble.

"You look like a real soldier," commented Sarah giving him the once over. "All you need is the beret."

"Are we ready Commander?" asked Ashley entering the medbay before taking notice of Lance. "You clean up nice."

"Thanks," replied Lance smoothing himself out. He adjusted himself constantly, not really feeling comfortable in such a form fitting uniform.

"I need a mirror," he said, looking down at his body. Even though he was fit he was sure he looked nothing like Lieutenant who looked like he was a poster child for the army with his athlete's physique.

"Relax," replied Kaidan. "You look fine."

"Come on," said Sarah checking her omnitool. "We should be moving out."

Lance did as he was told and followed the trio to up the curved stairs past the mess. Lagging behind them, he noticed that all three of them wore white and gray boxes on their sides. Remembering his encounter with the soldiers earlier, he figured these were side arms of some sort. At the top of the stairs the doors slid open to reveal, from what Lance could remember as one of the guards from earlier. On the opposite side he noticed the other, both still dressed in armor.

"Officer on deck," cried out the soldier standing guard at the door and gave a salute. To which the guard standing opposite also returned with a salute. However none of the others did, except for Ashley and Kaidan.

"This is the CIC," said Sarah to Lance. "Combat Information Center, all information gets passed through here. From both navigation to ground side missions."

As they walked along the deck, Lance couldn't help but look around to see all sorts of terminals and stations he had never seen before. What interested him the most was a raised platform overlooking a large table with a holographic image of the galaxy. His jaw dropped as the entire Milky Way Galaxy was visually represented as a three dimensional model.

"We can give you a tour when we get back," said Ashley pushing him along.

They reached the airlock where Ashley had to drag him away from spying on the cockpit of the ship where the helmsman was busy working a terminal.

"Decontamination in progress, standby," announced a voice over a speaker, clearly automated.

A soon as the airlock sealed shut behind them, an array of lights turned on and formed a wall of light that passed over them several times. Lance looked down at his arms, watching the light penetrate nearly every crevice of his body.

"We need to decontaminate ourselves from any foreign contaminants before exiting and reentering the ship," reported Kaidan watching Lance with interest.

"This isn't going to give me cancer or anything right?" asked Lance feeling a little violated.

"No confirmed reports so far," Kaidan reported.

"Though I'd be careful about your swim team," commented Ashley. "It's a joke. It is completely harmless."

"XO Shepard is ashore," said the automated voice again. "Navigator Presley has the conn."

Another set of airlocks opened up and they stepped out onto the dock. Lance was beside himself. For the past day he'd only ever been cooped up inside the ship with no windows or view of the outside. This was definitely like nothing he'd ever seen before. The sky, if you could call it that was filled with purple colored clouds. Lance walked over to the edge of the dock to see a vast city of lights not only beneath him but above and the sides as well.

"Never seen anything like this before," said Shepard going over to join him. "This is the Citadel. Home to the center of the galactic political power."

Several ships that were beyond anything what you could consider normal flew by. Some definitely not man made in design caught his attention, made him wonder what kind of aliens resided in them. Lance turned around to see the full view of the ship he had been aboard. He could barely tell where the bow of the ship was located if it weren't for the large delta wing tail and the large white letters spelling NORMANDY on its side.

"She's quite a sight isn't she?" asked Ashley.

"Why does it look different than those other ones?" asked Lance.

"Well the Normandy is built for not only space flight but also atmospheric reentry so it has to be more aerodynamic than those larger ships," informed Sarah. "Come on, I know you've got a lot of questions but the Ambassador and the Captain are waiting for us."

"Just do us a favor kid," said Ashley. "Try not to stare at the aliens."

They followed Sarah into the elevator at the end of the dock.

"You've seen aliens before Chief?" asked Kaidan.

"Well no," answered Ashley. "But I've learned enough about them."

"Uh-huh," said Kaidan.

The elevator ride took them down a few floors to a large terminal where they got their first look at the galaxy's many aliens first hand. Even though the elevators doors were made out of glass, Lance was shocked to find himself in an immense terminal with aliens of all kinds milling about with a speckle of humans who didn't seem perturbed by the fact that there were aliens of different shapes and sizes about. One of them looked like a large jellyfish glowed and throbbed in front of a reptilian bird like alien who seemed to understand the light show as it squawked and cawed like a raptor after each undulating light sequence. Lance could barely take his eyes away from it all when he nearly walked head first into a large green crab like insect alien.

"Sorry," he apologized quickly but the alien didn't seemed to have noticed being completely trampled over.

One of the reptile like aliens quickly strode over and began to hiss and spit at him, baring its long sharp pointed teeth behind curved lips and mandibles that barely covered its mouth. All Lance could do was study its face which glared at him with beady yellow eyes along with some kind of white tattoos over dull gray carapace like skin.

"Okay we will be careful next time," said Sarah stepping in between them, clearly understanding the hissing spitting that the alien was doing.

"Damn overgrown turkeys," cursed Ashley under her breath. "How are we supposed to know it was illegal to interfere with those bugs."

"You could understand that thing?" asked Lance quietly in case the aliens could understand him.

"Yeah damn Turians think they can just boss people around," said Ashley.

"So that's a Turian," said Lance seeing more just like the one, from just a quick glance seemed to want a taste of human flesh.

"You don't have a translator program do you," said Kaidan. "Just stick close to us. Best not to touch anything."

"Right," said Lance nodding his head. He'd have to rely on the others to translate and guidance around other species. The Citadel was like a labyrinth of crossways and corridors, each looking like the last, it was a wonder how anyone could traverse such a nonsensical place. After reaching the stark whiteness of the Presidium Lance let his jaw drop once more. There was a place that seemed so peaceful and calm that it seemed to belie the political agendas of the galaxy. After learning as much as he could from Sarah, Ashley and Kaidan about the different species and their conflicts, this place was too artificial. Though it was pretty to look at.

They had finally reached the embassies where an Asari receptionist sat waiting. Lance was curious about them. Much like the Presidium, it was very beautiful to look at, it however was a facade that masked an insatiable greed beneath their perfect figures, long millennium life spans and naturally obtained psychic abilities. Out of all the species he had encounter so far, something about the Asari seemed to rub Lance the wrong way.

She spoke on a language that seemed like French except with too many "S."

"Udina's waiting for us," Ashley translated for Lance.

Upon entering the room Shepard and the others were surprised to see a balding old man in a heated discussion with a Turian, Asari and Salarian holographic projections. Even though the door had opened Udina barely took his eyes away from the trio of aliens. Anderson quickly strode over and motioned them to enter. Even without a translator, Lance thought it best not to ease drop on the lively discussion Ambassador was having with the aliens. It wasn't long until Udina had finished and the three projections dissolved into nothingness.

"I see you've brought half of your crew Anderson," said Udina in a snarky voice. Right off the bat Lance could tell he didn't much care for this person, even if he was humanities ambassador.

"Just the ground team on Eden Prime," said Anderson he made to introduce them, but Udina seemed to get straight to business. Udina eyed them all suspiciously. His eyes lingered on Lance for a moment longer than he should have, the expression on his face said he was trying to understand why he looked familiar. But the expression was no different than his usual look of concentration, frowning hard to cause the creases in his face to become even more apparent.

"You've put your candidacy as a Spectre at risk Shepard. Putting you under Anderson as your CO was a mistake."

"That was Saren's fault, not the Captain's," defended Sarah swiftly but Udina just waved it off with his hand.

"If we can convince the Council that Saran has gone rogue, then maybe there is still a chance."

"We've got the testimony of an eyewitness that saw Sarren murder Nihlus in cold blood," said Anderson getting heated.

"One eyewitness account might not be enough," said Udina shaking his head.

"We have to try," replied Sarah.

Even though Udina felt it was pointless he went along with it anyway. "I've already set up a hearing with the Council. I expect Saren to be there as well."

"What about Lance?" asked Sarah.

"They will most likely pass it off as misinformation or error in the biometrics," said Udina shrewdly.

"Is there anything we can do for him?" asked Sarah.

"I need to speak with you in private," said Udina loud enough for the others to hear.

Ashley quickly turned her head to mask the grimace on her face. Her subordinates looked to the Commander who reluctantly nodded them to the door. With a quick salute to her, the two marines exited the office with Lance in tow.

"I'll be outside if you need me," said Anderson more to the Commander than Udina.

Once the door had closed Udina began to talk in hushed tones. "I know all about the company you keep."

"What do you mean?"

"That Soldier that you found next to the Prothean ruins? He doesn't remember his own name does he?"

"How do you know that sir?"

"Because we created him."

"What do you mean created him?"

Udina walked over to his desk and began to pull up files on his terminal. After a few moments going through back doors and hidden documents he pulled up a file and transferred it to a data pad. Nearly shoving it in her hands to keep it hidden from peering eyes.

"What's project 'Yellow Knife?'"

"It was a black ops project started by the United States government back in the twenty first century. It was… a human cloning program."

"What? But human cloning was outlawed."

"Yes," said Udina putting the tips of his fingers together like a steeple. "Hence 'black ops.'"

"So how does this relate to Lance?"

"The project was shelved for more than a hundred years until the First Contact War-."

"You mean clones were used during the war? That borders on one of the highest war crimes... even in the Alliance-."

"I know the laws Shepard," interrupted an annoyed Udina. "But it was a desperate time for humanity. Facing an unknown threat with the potential to completely obliterate our colonies from existence. Those Turians forced our hand, so the Alliance secretly funded a supersoldier program, with cloning project being one of them. However, the war came to a close and the program was decommissioned before they could make any real headway."

"Wouldn't people have noticed an entire army of soldiers that all looked alike?"

"Don't be absurd. There was more than one… subject, involved. Only clones from test subjects of more than a century old were ever used. What was left of them was sent to colonies along the Terminus Systems to supplement soldier regiments there. From my knowledge, less than a dozen remain."

"The Captain doesn't know about this does he?"

"Not even Hackett," said Udina. "This file was seen by no more than half a dozen people. Including yourself."

The wheels began to spin wildly out of control in her head. Everything fit, but there was just no way it could be true. It just couldn't. "But how does he still have the same biometrics? Shouldn't they different?"

"The United States government was running some kind of advanced cloning technology. With the ability to replicate biometrics, including memories to a T, making them nearly indistinguishable from the original host. Any of the details that remained of the project was destroyed when the program was terminated."

"But why does he not remember anything?"

"All clones had their memories modified and passed it off as amnesia."

"Barbaric," snorted Shepard.

"But effective. It also allows the clone to remain in society without much suspicion. No one will question a soldier whose brain decidedly chose to erase much of its own memory from the shock and trauma of war."

"These are people and you are treating them like weapons you can just throw away when you're done with them."

"They are clones Shepard, nothing more. It would be best to just hand it over so we can properly dispose of it and clear up this mess. No one will have to know-."

"Lance is the last person to come in contact with the Prothean beacon. So killing him will cause all the data from that beacon to be lost forever," said Sarah defiantly. She thought she couldn't feel any more rage than how she felt now.

Before Udina could object any further, a voice came over the intercom. "The Council is ready for you Ambassador."

"Meet us at the Council Chambers," said Udina walking towards the door. "It would be best for humanity if you did not mention this… issue again."

"Councilor," said Shepard before Udina was fully out of the door. "What was the program name? The one they used during the war?"

"Cerberus."


	2. Chapter 2

**Mass Effect: The Fugue**

 **A/N:** I would like to thank you so much for reading, favoriting, following and especially reviewing this story. I am glad that you all like it or at least find something about this story interesting and worth reading. It means a lot to me. I am sorry if the story has somewhat of a slow build up during these first few chapters. It should pick up as Shepard and the crew hit more action and Lance becomes more acclimatized to his surroundings. I promise.

* * *

It wasn't so much the heat that got to him but also how dry the air was here. Lance licked his lips, testing a deep crack with his tongue. It didn't seem to be healing as quickly as he'd have liked it to. He carefully pulled off a thick layer of dead skin with his fingers reopening the wound. At least it didn't hurt when he talked anymore. He could take the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth. A hand slapped him on the shoulder, not hard enough to hurt, but with enough force to nearly knock him over. He looked over to see Solomon with his thick unshaven beard, which was a perfect description of his body; thick, dark and imposing. He was the only Samoan in the group and stood out from everyone else, but everyone respected him. No only because he could bench press a truck but because he wa the first guy you'd want to take with you in a fight, everyone called him "Sledge."

"Don't pick at that," Sledge told him. "It's gonna make it worse."

"It's the damn weather," said Lance licking his lips again.

"You check out the spook?" asked Mouse coming over to them. Mouse was about as tall and lanky as you could get. Even though he nearly towered over everyone, including Solomon, he had the ferocity of a dormouse.

They looked over to see an Indian man in deep conversation with their leader, nicknamed "Boss." They called everyone new to the war zone spooks, because generally they looked scared shitless as soon as they heard the whiz or pop of a gunshot.

"He's from DARPA," replied Lance. "Neuroscience I think."

"The heck is a brain doctor doing in this place?" asked Mouse.

"Don't know, don't care," replied Lance. "Boss says we gotta transport the principle to Tic-Tock. We transport him to Tic-Tock."

"Tic-Tock" was the name everyone had given the fire base outside of Tikrit. It was no wonder Boss was bringing more guys than usual. Tikrit was a damn fortress, a literal fort made from stone, concrete and reinforced steel rebar. It's location allowed a strategic advantage of controlling the Tigris river, making it an ideal location for insurgents.

"Hope he brought some diapers," muttered Mouse.

"Spook going to Tic-Tock? He's gonna need a colostomy bag," corrected Sledge.

"Saddle up," called out Boss. "Grab your beans and bullets!"

It was the call to grab your gear and extra ammo. After grabbing their neccisary supplies, nine private contractors along with the principle loaded up into three armored trucks waiting outside. Lance jumped in the driver seat next to "Abi," an interpreter.

"Utah 4 move out," ordered Boss over the radio.

"Utah 4 moving out," replied the first truck. It slowly pulled up to the gate and made its way through the obstacle course of barricades with Utah 5 and then Utah 7, Lance's truck following close behind. It was a slow drive along the dusty road. Lance looked into his side view mirror, watching the safety of the base disappear.

Lance opened his eyes trying to remember where he was or just how long he'd been there. Going through everything in his head. The ungodly dry heat had turned into a cool seventy degrees. The shaggy dirt covered sandbag lined concrete walls had become pristine metal. He was back on the Presidium, in the human Ambassador's office.

For an office it was quite spacious albeit a bit exposed for his tastes. The back of the room opened up to a large balcony that overlooked the Presidium. Even with the privacy trees in place, anyone above could see right into the office. Commander Shepard had left him something called a "credit chit" or something. It was about the same thickness of a credit card, but half the size. It was transparent orange and only seemed to have one discernible symbol on it, an arrow forming a square around three coins, etched into its center. It resembled a decorative keychain more than something of monetary value. Although he was fed on the Normandy, it seemed like ages ago. Lance figured he'd get something to eat, but first he'd have to figure out how to use this thing.

Outside in the waiting area sat a receptionist at the front desk. Though she resembled something akin to a human, she was anything but. Her skin was an aqua blue, like a the kind of blue you'd see in a shallow swimming pool. Instead of hair, it had several tentacle like growths sprouting from the top and back of her head which swept back into a point. Lance slowly walked up to her desk until he was nearly in front of it, but she continued to type away furiously at the computer like device. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Um…" said Lance trying to figure out how to talk to this alien. She seemed like she would be of assistance but he just didn't know how to communicate with her. He held up the Commander's credit chit. "How do I use?"

"You can use the chit at any terminal to make purchases. Just place it on the terminal and the proper amount will be deducted from it," she said in perfect English.

"You speak English?" He asked relieved but also a little foolish for trying to pantomime his question.

"I am still learning it, the subtleties of the language are quite hard to master," said the alien smiling at him. "I am surprised you humans can communicate with it. It really is one of the hardest languages in the galaxy. And trust me, I speak Vol."

"Is there a way to access the amount of money that is on here?" asked Lance.

"There is a bank on the other side, I am sure they can help you there. It is next to the open market," she replied courteously to him. "Is there anything else that I can help you with?"

"No that's all," replied Lance. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, have a pleasant day," she said continuing with her work. "You can always asked Avina if you have any more general questions."

Lance followed her hand gesture to the holographic alien which looked remarkably similar to the alien standing in front of him. He supposed it was the alien's way of telling him to leave her the hell alone. Lance didn't seem to care much for this "Avina" hologram as its eyes followed him everywhere he went. Even though it smiled and stood patiently waiting for him to approach, he avoided her gaze until he was a good distance away. He glanced over his shoulder and nearly jumped out of his skin when the nearly walked right into the hologram again.

"Hello Mr. 'Visitor 1847-2.' I am Avina your personal tour guide to the Citadel. Records indicated Mr. 'Visitor 1847-2,' that this is your first visit to the Citadel. Would you like a tour of the area?" asked the hologram staring unblinkingly at him.

"No thank you," he quickly replied getting away as fast as he could.

"Please enjoy the rest of your day Mr. 'Visitor 1847-2,'" she replied with a smile. "If you have and more questions-."

Lance was already gone, not wanting to hear the rest of her prerecorded speech.

It was a short walk over the bridge that crossed over the large water reservoir which looked more like a lake than anything. Somehow it didn't surprise him to see trash floating in the water. Bottles and cigarettes created a disgusting brownish film along the water's edge. It was hard not to imagine something else more sinister things within the depths. Large monolithic monuments were erected in the water creating a focal point for people to held distract from the filth floating around them.

Lance stood at the front door of The First Bank of the Citadel. A holographic display of a green circle surrounded by a green rectangle flowed in the middle of the door. He remembered seeing this symbol on the doors before but most of them seemed to open themselves before he got too close. Lance cautiously put his hand up to it and watching it pass through before disappearing all together. The doors opened with a small chime revealing a rather bleak interior with only a single alien being the most interesting thing in the room. It stood behind a desk at the far side of the room, it was short and round alien completely encased in a space suit with a mask that revealed almost nothing about its face. It's twin growling eyes blinked up at him. If it hadn't looked like a walrus standing on two legs Lance would have though it looked rather sinister. Lance wasn't even sure if it was alive and not some animatronic robot, though he highly doubted it as there were several holographic blue alien guides scattered around the Presidium, desperately waiting for someone to approach them.

"Welcome Mr. Hunter," said the alien between breaths as if it had asthma.

"You speak English?" Lance blurted out.

"I don't speak English. But my suit's translator is able to let you hear everything I say," breathed the alien. "In English."

Lance cautiously walking towards him. Before he could stop himself and regret having been so rude, it just sort of tumbled out of his mouth. "What are you?"

"I am a volus," said the alien proudly. "One of the founding races of the Citadel."

Regretting his previous question, Lance decided to choose something more relevant. "How do you know my name?"

"You have been monitored ever since you set foot on this station. You see my name is Barla Von and I am an agent of the Shadowbroker. And he has taken an interest in you."

Lance felt very uncomfortable and slowly began to back away from the alien. He looked around and noticed several cameras pointed in his direction.

"Although my employer has taken an interest in you. You are worth very little to him."

"If it's money you want-."

"Hardly. My employer sees no value in money. It is only a means to obtain true currency. Information. My employer has a proposition for you, he has a… problem he wishes for you to address."

"Why should I help you?"

"The Shadowbroker is willing to offer you information in exchange. Information that will help your Commander Shepard in her case against Saren."

"How did you know that?"

"As I said before. The Shadowbroker is very well informed. Take care of the problem and the data is yours."

Lance stared at the little alien who stood no more than chest high. He thought for a moment, not only to allow this alien to catch its breath but also to weigh his own options.

"I'll do it," said Lance looking up at the cameras, positive that someone was watching from behind them.

"Excellent," said the alien taking a deep breath. "Meet with a bounty hunter named Wrex at this location. Here are the details."

"What does he look like?" asked Lance taking a piece of paper from the volus. He was surprised that paper even existed in this world.

"You will know when you see him. Good day," said the alien waddling back to his desk.

Taking his sign to leave Lance turned around and looked over the paper. It was directions to a place which Lance had no idea where it was. And he wasn't sure asking the receptionist back at the embassy was such a good idea either. After memorizing the directions he shoved it in his pocket and headed towards the nearest elevator. This couldn't all have been by happenstance could it?

If the Presidium was the clean exquisitely decorated frosting on the cake, then the Lower Wards were the gooey center. There were no fake sky overhead nor freshly painted exteriors or bright lights. This was the true nature of the station. After cutting through a back alley way he found himself in a small corridor where a mountain of an alien stood leaning against the wall. As he got closer he noticed majority of its height came from the large hump on its back. It wore crimson armor making an already intimidating alien appear downright nightmarish.

He could barely get a good look at the alien in the dim light. Noticing three distinct deep scars running down its face, which seemed even deeper in the shadows. It grunted at him in a language he couldn't hope to replicate with his mouth. It sounded guttural almost violent with every note.

"Wrex?" asked Lance almost positive this was the alien.

It took a step forward and shoved a large hand into his gut, taking the wind out of him. When it's hand retracted it left behind a pistol almost as large as his entire forearm. In the alien's other hand was a small earwig device. Hesitating at first that the divide might be a trap he carefully inspected it. Wrex pointed to the side of his head with one of its three fingers.

Figuring that if this alien wanted him dead all it would have to do is sit on him, he carefully shoved it into his right ear. Almost immediately it booted up.

"You make like you've never seen a krogan before," growled the alien motioning down the corridor.

"No I haven't," said Lance honestly.

"Just one word of advice kid," said Wrex taking a step forward. "Don't get in my way."

"Right," said Lance.

"You know how to use that?"

"I'll figure it out. Just where's the safety?"

Wrex let out a laugh which made Lance's insides rumble. Wrex held up a finger and flexed it like pulling a trigger. "This is your safety. Let's go."

Taking his word for it he followed Wrex down the corridor to a sign that flashed from a strange alien script to the words "Chora's Den" along with an aliens in neon stylized lights, reclining in the nude. Two bouncers, one human the other turian, stood outside the door looking positively bored. The presence of Lance and Wrex quickly drew their attention. As if they had been waiting for them to show up, the bouncers opened fire.

Without hesitating Wrex charge forward like a rhino on a stampede and crushed a human bouncer into the wall. From 20 meters back Lance could hear the sickening crunch of bone that was once resembled the shape of a human. Wrex who had a shotgun out in a flash quickly dispatched the other bouncer, the turian. Hearing the commotion outside armed humans and aliens came pouring out the door. The area had quickly turned into an ugly shoot out. Lance dove towards the nearest cover he could find as rounds from an assault rifle rang out. For Wrex's large size he move remarkably quick, running from target to target, gunning them down with his shotgun or simply ramming them over. A few times Lance though he saw Wrex glow blue and throw an invisible ball, catching anyone unfortunate

Lance noticing a turian standing out in the open squeezed off a round only to find bullet hitting some kind of protective shielding around it. The turian drew its focus away from Wrex and started sending rounds his way. Lance stuck his gun up and began to take pot shots at the turian until his gun seized up. A port on the side slid open and blast of hot air shot out the side. On the inside of the gun Lance could see a set of red heat coils which glowed angrily at him. The turian taking the chance quickly closed the distance and was nearly on top of him. Wrex, seeing a target out in the open quickly pinned the turian against the wall and unloaded his shotgun until the turian didn't have a head anymore.

"Damn turians," said Wrex spitting on the ground. Lance noticed Wrex was injured and bleeding in several places, his already worn armor looked like it had received several new bullet holes and blood nearly covered his face. Lance was positive that the blood wasn't entirely his own.

"This is suicide," yelled Lance up at Wrex.

"This fun," corrected Wrex who had an obvious smile on his face despite the numerous wounds he had received.

A bloodlust roar echoed from within the club as another krogan came charging out of it like a freight train. It knocked over its own comrades as it made a beeline for Wrex. Who responded with an equally murderous roar and charged forward. The force of the two large aliens colliding sounded like a bomb going off. It was the meeting of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. The two krogan began to wrestle each other, forgetting about the others taking shots at them.

"Lance what the hell is going on?" asked Sarah sliding into cover next to him.

"Long story," said Lance taking out a gunner trying to get a shot on Wrex.

Ashley and Kaidan systematically moved up from cover to cover sending bullets down range at their attackers. Kaidan drew a force of biotic energy into a ball in his hand and threw it at a pair of attackers. They both dodged the attack but quickly began to get sucked up into the air as the energy began to act like a vortex. One grenade throw later and the two attackers were no more. Noticing a turian slowly creeping up on cover Lance began to take aim, thankful the turian hadn't noticed them.

Sarah quickly yanked the gun down. "He's with us."

The turian took shots at the krogan battling Wrex but it simply shrugged off the shots. This only seemed to get Wrex even angrier as he grabbed the krogan by the collar and gave it a head butt before kicking it away. The krogan wobbled around on its legs before its eyes rolled to the back of its head, falling over dead. Ashley dispatched the last attacker and the area fell still again.

"Lance what the hell are you doing here?" demanded Ashley.

"They started it," said Lance pointing to the dead bodies all around them.

"And we sure as hell finished it," said Wrex with a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Come on we've no time for this," interrupted Garrus quickly making for the club. "We can talk about who should be grateful later. Right now we need to get to Fist."

Inside the club the ragtag team began to spread out with weapons drawn. Wrex threw aside an overturned table to find several strippers had used it as cover. Lance was surprised to him let them all go with their lives. From the short time he spent with him, Lance had pegged him as a take-no-prisoners type.

The once most of the club had been combed over they proceeded to the back room. Inside a pair of workers had barricaded themselves in with weapons drawn but hesitated to shoot back. Before Wrex could get a shot off, Sarah stepped in front blocking his shot.

"You should get out of here," she told them.

"Yeah we're gone," they said quickly climbing over the boxes and crates and sprinting for the exit.

"Would have been easier to let me kill them," said Wrex sounding a little disappointed.

They in turn climbed over the crates, checking nooks and crannies to make sure no one was lying in wait for them. The only room left was the manager's office where their target waited for them.

As soon as the doors opened a hail of gunfire from twin machine gun turrets answered them. A lone man cowered in the corner unloading his shotgun in their direction. Garrus queued up his omnitool and fired off a small projectile at the turrets causing a small electrical discharge, interrupting the firing sequence. Multiple rounds were loaded into the barrel before the turrets could fire them off, clogging the barrel. When it did try to fire off their rounds, they exploded violently, shaking the entire room. Fist quickly threw aside his gun and slowly came out of cover.

"Don't shoot, I give up," he cried holding up his hands.

Wrex charged in and grabbed the man by the throat.

"Wrex we need him alive," said Garrus.

"I'm getting paid to kill him," growled Wrex. "And I don't leave jobs half done."

"Let him go Wrex," said Sarah. "You can have him after we're done."

"Wrex," said Lance. "He's got intel I need, that's part of my deal with the broker."

"Five minutes," said Wrex dropping him into a heap on the floor. "And then he's mine."

Fist coughed and gulped down as much air as he could. Sarah squatted down to talk to him. "Tell us where the quarian is."

He looked up at the krogan towering over him. "Speak," growled Wrex shoving his shotgun into his face.

"She's not here. She wanted to meet with the Shadowbroker himself, so I set a trap for her. She's meeting Saren's men in an alley behind the markets here on the ward. It's happening right now. It's the truth I swear. Just don't kill me."

Wrex pulled the trigger, turning him into a stain on the floor.

"Drop the gun!" "Drop it!" yelled Ashley and Kaidan with weapons trained on the krogan.

"My job's done," said Wrex pushing past them and towards the exit.

"You're with CSec, you're just going to let him go?" asked Ashley confronting Garrus.

"If you want to arrest him, be my guest," Garrus told her.

"What's done is done," said Sarah shaking her head. "We've got other problems to deal with. We've got to find that quarian."

"I think I know the location," said Garrus running towards the exit with the others in tow.

"How will we know which alley?" asked Lance following the others.

"You're still pretty new to the Citadel aren't you? We just have to look for the one with a quarian in it," said Garrus. Lance still had no idea what he was talking about but just followed along hoping Garrus knew what to look for.

After passing through several alley they finally came upon the correct one.

"There," said Garrus in a hushed tone. "That's got to be her."

Lance got his first look at a quarian. She like many other aliens here stood on two legs except her feet ended in two pointed toes and legs bent in the wrong angel, like the hind legs of a dog. Even though it appeared to be female, her hips seemed much wider than a humans and her hands only had three fingers on them. Lance began to wonder if they were related to turians so how as they seemed to share similar traits, although he couldn't make out her face, as she was wearing some kind of helmet under a hood.

The quarian was talking with a turian who appeared much unfriendlier than Garrus, which could be due to the white and black tattoo like skull on his face. They watch as the turian felt her up, but the she retaliated back and slapped his hand away. "The deal's off."

The turian being clearly upset raised his hand ready to strike her when he noticed Garrus and the others. Two slender aliens emerged from the shadows weapons drawn. Using the confusion the quarian dropped a grenade at he their feet before diving off into cover. The explosion sent the two aliens flying backwards, becoming easy targets. They scambled as quickly as they could, barely getting a few shots off before the hail of gun fire ended their futile struggle.

Seeing his comrades on the floor the turian pointed a pistol at the quarian knowing he'd die anyway if the quarian regardless. Kaidan acted as quick as he could, charging his biotics but his amp could conjure up energy so quickly.

Garrus without reacting tackled the turian to the ground. The two flailed about trying to get the upper hand on each other. Garrus drew the knife from his boot and slid it across the mercenaries' throat. He let out a gurgle before falling still, life had left his eyes. Garrus rolled off of the corpse and stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

"Are you alright?" asked the quarian crawling over to him.

"I should be asking you that," replied Garrus as he got to his feet. He looked down as his bloody hands and wiped them on his uniform and helping the quarian to her feet.

"Nothing life threatening, just a few bumps but I'll be okay," she said accepting the help. "Thank you for saving me."

"Your welcome Ms…" began Garrus.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," she piped up.

"Lance you okay?" asked Ashley helping him up.

"Yeah," replied Lance shaking feeling into his arm. Ashley looked over at his shoulder which was bleeding profusely.

"Commander, Lance is hit," she called out.

"Better have that wound checked out," replied Sarah looking over his right arm. "When did you get hit?"

"I don't remember," answered Lance. "Everything happened so quickly."

"Here, let me see," said Tali. She extracted a tube and carefully opened the top to reveal a yellow gel like liquid. It stung at first but quickly began to cool, numbing his entire arm. As soon as the gel hit his wound it began to mix with his blood and began to froth. "Just leave that on until it fully sets."

"There's a clinic nearby," said Garrus.

"Dr. Michel's?" asked Sarah.

Garrus nodded they followed him still a little more than edgy considering they've been through more than a few firefights on the first day on the Citadel. Which Garrus was more than happy to remind them of.

"Your first day on the Citadel Commander," said Garrus. "You saved a doctor from a hostage situation, waged an all out war on the Lower Wards and saved a quarian from an execution sentence."

"What's your point?" asked Kaidan bringing up the rear.

"Nothing, just fascinated. You must have set some kind of a record," grinned Garrus. "Imagine if you spent a week here or even a month."

"Think of the collateral damage," said Lance.

"Good point," replied Garrus.

"Don't forget yesterday," Kaidan brought up.

"Oh yeah there's that whole attack on Eden Prime," nodded Garrus.

"Wait you were there," said Tali stopping in her tracks.

"The Commander must've taken down over a hundred geth," said Kaidan.

"And diffused a bomb," added Ashley.

"Four bombs," corrected Kaidan.

"Keelah," said Tali finding a loss for words before quickly catching up to them.

They arrived at a small clinic just outside the market. Big enough to provide proper medical treatment but also small enough to not attract too much attention. As soon as the doors slid open the familiar sterile smell wafted out to greet them. Although it was small and mostly barren, the large window in the back offered a panoramic view of a small sitting garden just behind it.

"Hello Dr. Michel," called out Garrus. A redheaded woman with matching green eyes poked her head cautiously around the corner.

"I am so glad you are okay," said Dr. Michel, with a hint of a French accent, when she saw Tali and the others walk in.

"Everything alright here doc?" asked Ashley understandably cautious.

"Yes it has been very quiet after you took care of those thugs," she said. "The CSec came by to take a report and remove the bodies."

"Oh," said Garrus taking up post by the door.

"Doctor, one of my squad was injured, do you think you could check up on him?" asked Sarah motioning to Lance.

"But of course," said Dr. Michel leading him to one of the examination beds. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Gunshot wound to my right arm," said Lance very bluntly. He wasn't sure how she'd react but she didn't seem all that surprised.

"Well the medi-gel has repaired the damaged tissue, there may be some slight scarring," she said inspecting his arm. "Let's run a diagnostic to check for any infections and broken bones."

"British Columbia?" asked Lance as she began to fiddle with some machinery nearby.

"Pardon?"

"Your accent," said Lance.

"Oh no," she said. "I have never been to Earth. Please lay still."

"I see," said Lance as he lay down on the table, staring up at the bright white lights.

"I am from Arcturus Station," said Dr. Michel pulling a large arc shaped device over the entirety of the bed. "There are many languages spoken there still. Though English is the common language of course, though not my first language."

"You speak it beautifully," said Lance.

"Merci," she said with a smile.

The machine powered on casting a blue wall of light over him. With a few more button presses the machine passed over his entire body several times before powering down. Lance hoisted himself up on his elbows to see a holographic image of his entire body appear. With a few motions of her hand she zoomed into the problem area on his arm.

"There appears to be a minor infection," she replied. "Nothing to worry about. Oh that is odd."

"What's odd?" asked Sarah looking at the hologram. Lance feeling his little holographic self exposed tried to hide his embarrassment.

"There are no Omnitool or translator chips," said Dr. Michel to the Commander.

"Is that a problem?" asked Lance.

"It is no problem," said Dr. Michel smiling at him. "It is just odd that for a soldier, these would have been installed right away."

"He's not exactly a soldier doctor," correct Sarah. "Though I'm curious. How are you able to understand aliens?"

"With this," said Lance pulling out the small earwig to show to them.

"I haven't seen one of these in ages," said Dr. Michel inspecting the translator. "I wasn't sure they still made these."

"They don't," said Sarah taking the earwig from Lance.

"Wrex gave it to me," replied Lance.

"It's probably nothing," said Sarah pocketing the translator.

"How am I supposed to hear what anyone is saying?" asked Lance, not wanting to feel left out again.

"Do you have a translator chip doctor?" asked Sarah.

"Of course," she said removing a small needle like gun from a cabinet.

"You're not going to stick that in my brain are you?" asked Lance recoiling slightly away.

"Don't be silly," she said with a smile. "It is just a simple injection."

She gently pushed his head to turn to his left. With her fingers she gently felt around his ear to find the gap between the mandible and cranium. Once she found what she was looking for, a slight pinprick informed him the job was done. She placed the needle gun on the counter and dabbed a bit of the same yellow gel on the puncture wound.

"There we are," replied Dr. Michel.

"Does it work?" asked Lance running his finger over the rice sized lump behind his ear.

"Bosh'tet," muttered Tali.

"I don't think it's working," replied Lance.

"Citadel Security! Drop your weapons," cried out a turian storming the clinic with a rifle drawn. Several more officers, both human and alien entered the clinic. The officers rounded them all up and lined them all up against the wall.

"Ridgefield? Lamont?" asked Garrus.

"Garrus," said a human officer approaching him. Lance could make out the name Ridgefield on his name tape. But the others continued to keep their weapons trained on their targets. "The Executor wants to see you. All of you."

"What for?" asked Garrus watching as officers retrieved weapons from everyone.

"I don't know, maybe the trail of bodies you left behind," said the turian officer.

"They started that fight, it was self defense," defended Garrus.

"Sorry Garrus, it's out of my hands," said Lamont showing his palms. "We're here to take you in. Executor Pallin wants a word with you."

They were loaded into several police cars and quickly sped along their way. The three police cars sped along the Presidium flying quicker than any of the other cars. It was a short ride until they reached a familiar location outside the embassies. Once they touched down several more CSec officers were waiting for them.

"Garrus, be careful in there," said Lamont. Ridgefield, sitting next to him, leaned over and gave the turian a quick salute before taking off again.

Even though through the metal walls, Lance and the others could hear the shouting perfectly clear from the hallway. It wasn't going well.

"But it was an act of self defense," defended Garrus.

"Shooting up half the Ward is not self defense," said the Executor. "It is an act of war."

"They would have killed her and you know damn well we did the right thing."

"As an officer of the law, I expect you to be above reproach-."

"That quarian has information that can indict Saren-."

A loud thump informed them that the Executor had slammed his fist on his desk.

"Spirits, Garrus. Don't you ever listen to orders? I explicitly told you you were off the case."

"Spirits be damned. If we waited and did everything by the book, Saren would be halfway across the galaxy, and we'd still have no evidence against him."

There was a long pause of silence.

"I'm putting you on suspension."

"Fine," said Garrus. A thunk of metal sounded from within the room.

"I'm not asking for your resignation. I am asking you to follow orders. Despite your recklessness and clear abandon of authority, you are a fine officer just like your father. Spirits, Garrus, what would he think if he saw you now?"

"I don't give a damn what my father thinks. If sitting in an office doing paperwork all day means criminals walk free, then I say screw the damn desk."

The doors opened and Garrus stormed out past everyone with saying a word to them. Even though Lance was still new to the whole alien thing, it was obvious that Garrus was extremely agitated. He nearly walked straight into Ambassador Udina who had to quickly jump to the side. He completely ignored Sarah and the others and headed straight into the Executor's office. Captain Anderson lagging behind the Ambassador motioned for them to enter the office.

"All out gun fight on the Wards, this is the center galactic civilization Shepard, not the Wild West," said Udina not even bothering to face her. "As if your Spectre candidacy wasn't already in jeopardy."

"We didn't start that fight," defended Sarah.

"But you ended it," said the Executor clearly showing a distaste for humans. "In the last three hours, I've had my men trying to clean up that mess your kind call an 'investigation.'"

"We saved that quarian from Saren and his men," said Sarah practically shouting. "She has data that proves Saren's guilt."

"Where is this data?" asked Udina skeptically.

"She's currently being held in protective custody," said the Executor. "The data in question is being analyzed for validity. Even if that data is authentic there is still the matter in which it was obtained." His beady eyes were fixed on Sarah like a raptor eyeing his next meal.

The air was thick with the tension between them, even breathing was difficult. Lance took a step forward opening his mouth to speak, but Sarah beat him to it. She began to exclaim that she was responsible however...

"I take full responsibility," chimed in Anderson stepping forward. "I was the one who told them to track down any leads regarding Saren."

"This is a serious crime Anderson," said Udina shrewdly. "You would face a court martial."

"Any actions of a subordinate is reflected upon its commanding officer," said Anderson. "I am responsible."

"Captain," pleaded Sarah.

"I will request an emergency hearing with the Council," said the Executor queuing up his computer. "I trust that you won't cause any more damage until then? My men will escort you to the Tower."

As they made for the door the Executor called out to Sarah.

"You are a very lucky woman Commander. But if you put another toe out of line I will personally see to it that you never set foot on the Citadel again and Captain Anderson won't be there to save you."

Sarah was lost in her own thoughts during the elevator ride up the Citadel Tower. It was probably a full ten seconds before she registered that the doors were already open. Lance had expected the Tower to be dead and bland, the same dull white that painted the rest of the Presidium, but this couldn't be further from that. Rows of cherry blossom trees in full bloom filled the room, along with rocks patches of grass and soft water features. It was as if everything had been constructed around this zen garden. Lance wondered if it was cherry blossom season back on Earth, but he doubted it, he wasn't even sure these tree knew what season it was, being so far away from home.

Their escort of CSec officers had taken up posts surrounding them causing many delegates to look on with curiosity. Udina had already gone ahead and was in speaking to the Council on Shepard's behalf. It wasn't long before Tali had joined the others. Although they were reunited, none of them felt like talking. They had all gotten the Captain in very serious trouble.

"Commander, the Council would like to speak with you," said one of the CSec officers. "You too miss."

Tali and Shepard made their way up the stairs to the Audience Chamber. Tali was quite nervous and kept fidgeting with her suit to make herself seem more presentable. She kept muttering to herself which made Udina continually glance over at her.

The Asari councilor addressed them. "Commander we understand that you have obtained information regarding Saren that may indict his involvement in the attack on Eden Prime?"

"Yes Councilor," said Shepard as respectfully as she could at that moment. "Ms. Nar Rayya here is to present that information."

"Hello Councilors, I am Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. It is an honor to be allowed up here-."

"Yes yes, if you would present the information if you please," said the salarian councilor impatiently.

"Right sorry," said Tali. If she was embarrassed no one could exactly tell beneath the helmet. She queued up her omnitool and began to play the audio recording.

"... Eden Prime was a major victory. It has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit," said Saren.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers," answered a female voice.

The Councilors mulled over the information. It was some time before any of them spoke. "This information has been authenticated for validity?" asked the salarian councilor.

"Executor Pallin has forwarded me the analysis, it is valid," said the turian councilor in disbelief. "There is no denying it. Saren was involved in the Eden Prime attack."

"How did you come about this data?" asked the salarian councilor.

"I was on my pilgrimage. It is a sort of right of passage that…" sensing the councilors were getting a little impatient she went straight to the point. "There were rumors that geth had been sighted outside the Perseus Veil. We managed to track a small group to an uncharted planet. There we subdued one and removed its memory core before it could wipe the data we managed to extract this data."

"There were others that came across this data as well?" asked Sarah curiously.

"I am... the only one left," said Tali quietly hanging her head low.

"Thank you Ms. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," said the asari councilor. "This evidence clearly proves that Saren is working with the geth and attacked Eden Prime to obtain the information on the prothean beacon."

"His Spectre status will be revoked immediately," said the turian councilor.

"Then he should be brought in and put on trial for his crimes," demanded Udina.

"Scans indicate that Saren is somewhere in the Attican Traverse near the Terminus Systems. Well beyond Citadel Jurisdiction," said the salarian.

"Then send your fleet in! He must pay for his crimes against humanity!" yelled Udina.

"We will not risk open war with the Terminus Systems nor spend the resources sending a fleet on the hunt one rogue Spectre and for the sake of a few human colonies," said the turian. "His resources and authorization as a Spectre will be revoked, what more do you want?"

"If you won't send your fleet in, then send me," said Sarah stepping forward. "One ship won't start a war. And we can hunt down and bring him in for justice."

"It is a sound plan," said the asari much to the disapproval of the turian councilor.

"The least we can do is provide her with the necessary resources so she can track down the rogue agent," replied the salarian councilor.

"The way she obtained the information is completely reckless," said the turian. "Shooting up half of a ward to get it. No, she is too reckless."

"That makes her more than qualified," said the asari.

Being overridden by the others, the turian councilor caved in.

"Commander Sarah Shepard please step forward," the asari councilor instructed her. "Place your right hand on the terminal."

She did as she instructed as the councilors each confirmed their biometric authorization on their terminals.

"Commander it is by the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and authority of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," recited the asari councilor.

"It is your duty to carry out the will of the Council, and the Council alone. You would become it's right hand, instruments of our will. A sword to execute our orders and a shield to defend them," stated the salarian councilor.

"Spectres are the embodiment of courage, honor and justice. All actions of a Spectre are above reproach and authorized without question," said the turian councilor. "Your orders are absolute, the means in which you accomplish them are your own."

"Do you accept the responsibilities that have been presented to you Commander Sarah Shepard?" asked the asari councilor.

"I do."

The terminal under Sarah's hand sprung to life and recorded all of her biometric data.

"Then from this day forward you are a Spectre of the Council," replied the asari councilor. "As your first task of a Spectre, you are to track down the rogue agent Saren and bring him into face justice."

"Where should I begin?" asked Sarah.

"That other voice," said the asari. "I recognize it as Matriarch Benezia. A very powerful asari on the last stage of her life. She has many resources and connections, she will make a great and terrible ally for Saren. I would suggest tracking down her daughter, to see if she has any information on her whereabouts."

"Maybe she knows something about these 'reapers,'" stated Sarah.

"They are nothing more than a myth," said the salarian waving it off. "Nothing more than a ruse to get cooperation from the geth."

"What about this 'conduit?'" asked the turian. "There has to be more to this."

"Find out what you can about the 'conduit,'" agreed the asari. "But your primary mission is to track down Saren."

"If that is all," said the turian ready to dismiss her.

"Councilors, about Captain Anderson," said Sarah.

"Find Saren and then we will consider dropping the charges," replied the salarian.

"You have your mission," said turian. "See that it gets done."

With that Sarah and the others were dismissed. It was a quiet ride back to the embassies. Udina hadn't spoken a word which seemed unusual considering that humanity got its first Spectre and the first step towards being officially recognized by the rest of the council worlds.

"I heard the news, congratulations Commander," Anderson greeting them as they stepped out of the cars.

"You have a lot of work to do Shepard," said Udina finally speaking up. "If you are going after Saren in the Traverse, you'll need a ship."

"She can use the Normandy," said Anderson sounding reluctant at first but quickly shook it off. "She's the fastest ship in the galaxy."

"Are you sure about this Captain?" asked Sarah hesitating.

"A ship like that is no good being locked up here," said Anderson firmly, not taking no for an answer. "And you're going to need every advantage you can get if you're going to take down Saren. You know the crew, they'll listen to you. You may be a Spectre but I'm still your CO and that's an order."

"Yessir, thank you sir," replied Sarah. "I'll take good care of her Captain."

"She's your ship now Commander," responded Anderson.

"Shepard you may be a Spectre but you've been a human even longer, I trust you will keep humanity's best interests in mind," remarked Udina. "Come along Anderson."

It was an awkward walk back to the terminal. No one really seemed to know how to talk to Sarah anymore as she had become the new CO of the Normandy and the first human Spectre on top of that.

"Should I stay here Commander?" asked Lance breaking the uneasy silence inside the elevator.

"If Saren found out about this 'conduit' from the prothean beacon, then whatever he found out about it could be inside your head," replied Sarah. "Besides, where are you gonna stay?"

"Maybe Capt. Anderson..."

"The Captain has a lot to deal with right now."

"And you don't?"

"Call it woman's intuition but that vision of yours is probably the key."

"Um... Captain Shepard?" asked Tali in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"It's Commander, Tali," corrected Sarah.

"But you are the new captain of the ship," she said. "In my culture, because we all live on the flotilla, once you take command of the ship, you become the Captain. Regardless of your rank. Sorry, I'm droning on again. Anyway do you mind if I tag along? The geth drive my people from our homeworld of Rannoch and haven't been seen outside of the Veil, so I would like to know why."

"Sure we could use an extra hand," replied Sarah.

"I'll try not to get in the way. Because of the flotilla I have some experience in engineering and could help around the ship-."

"It's fine Tali, it won't be a problem."

"And you don't have to worry about feeding me. Not like I could eat it anyway because if I ingest food that isn't dextro based because I could get an allergic reaction-."

"Tali," said Sarah putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine."

"Thanks," said Tali breathing a sigh of relief. "Sorry, it's kind of a defense mechanism that I have when I'm nervous. I talk a lot so people can understand the emotions that I am feeling because of the mask… Right. Maybe later."

Lance was curious about everything that she had just said but thought better of it or else Ashley might strangle him for getting Tali worked up again.

"Commander," called out a familiar voice. "I heard the news congratulations."

"Thank you," replied Sarah shaking Garrus' hand.

"I also heard you're going after Saren," said in a hushed tone. "I want to come with."

"What about CSec?"

"You heard what happened. If I stay with them all I'd be doing is sitting on my hands, please let me see this one through," pleaded Garrus. "I am tired of getting blocked left and right by bureaucracy and rules. I want to get things done my way for a change."

"If you're coming along we do things the right way," replied Sarah sternly.

"I wasn't… yes Commander," said Garrus.

The group seemed to be getting larger by the second, as soon as they hit the Alliance docks an all too familiar krogan was waiting for them.

"Here's your cut kid," said Wrex tossing Lance a credit chit.

"But my deal was for the information," said Lance trying to hand it back but was completely ignored.

"Word has it you're going after big game," growled Wrex to Sarah.

"What of it?" asked Sarah cautiously.

"I like big game," answered Wrex. "The fights you attract are better than this dump." He turned to Garrus. "Besides I might be able to knock off a few more turians from the galaxy. To make up for the genophage."

"That was a long time ago Wrex," replied Garrus, but the krogan wasn't listening.

"Can we trust him?" asked Ashley. "I mean he's a krogan."

"He may be krogan but he's actually one of the more level headed ones," said Garrus shaking his head. "We can trust him."

They all stood outside the ship admiring the Normandy still in dock. Even Wrex seemed to have taken in interest in her.

"Now there's a ship," said Garrus looking over her curves. "Turian and human engineering."

"She's one of the best ships in the galaxy," said Sarah.

"No use hanging around here," said Wrex heading for the airlock.

"This is going to be one hell of a ride," said Lance under his breath.


End file.
